"You can seduce a man without taking anything off, without even touching him."
Rae Dawn Chong
⚜️
"What game would that be?" Em asked.
Alexi's smile was almost nonexistent but his eyes were filled with mischief. He pulled something out of his jacket pocket and produced a small box. He opened the flap and out came a pack of cards.
"A card game, Alexi? I believe this is not very original."
"I never it said it was." He then pulled the blinds from the window and found a tiny switch. Em heard something clicked somewhere inside the carriage but couldn't pinpoint where. The next thing she knew, Alexi was pulling down a makeshift slab of wood that served as a table between them. "Can you shuffle?" He asked.
Em smiled. She and the other servants did play cards when they have free time. Alexi handed her the cards and she expertly halved the cards and began stacking them with precision. He watched her for sometime, quite entertained with her little show.
Once satisfied that the cards are now fully stacked randomly, she asked. "Now what?"
"Now you distribute the cards to us. Evenly. Facedown."
Her brows creased but she compiled. They may be playing a game she was not familiar with. The carriage continued its course and for awhile, Em was distracted. She threw the last card onto Alexi's pile. "We are not reading your fortune, are we?"
"Funny, Em. But I had mine read years ago, you may pass." He said and began to take his pile of cards closer to his side of the table. "You may take five cards at a time and leave the rest for now."
Em did and took out five cards from the bottom of the stack, nothing special but she just felt they may give her luck. "You had you fortune read before?"
"Curious are we?" He teased while his eyes focused on his cards. "You may ask me again once you win."
"And how exactly can I win?"
"Simple, we both find the pairs of the cards that we have. You may take one from my hands and put the pair on the side then add a new one from your pile. The last person who holds the cards unpaired, loses."
"Simple enough. But what do I get if I win?"
"You may ask me something and I shall answer truthfully and I shall do the same to you."
"You are merely finding an excuse to dig into my life."
"But wouldn't you want to know more about me?" He asked in that seductive tone of his. "You may also ask me to do something instead of asking a question."
Em sighed. There wasn't anything interesting in her life to share anymore. She assumed that Alexi's servants had found how boring her existence had been. He'd just waste his time but she figured that if she won there was no point in giving in to his wants. And she could make him do silly things, like shut up during the entire trip. At that thought, she smiled. "Shall we start?"
***
They were quite for awhile, both intent on winning. Em had now three pairs of cards on her table but Alexi just laid down his fifth pair. She tried not to panic and pulled another card from his hand and got the King of Hearts. Her eyes quievered because she couldn't seem to find a pair on her deck. With a deep breath, she shuffled her cards and rearranged them. She couldn't pull out a new one unless she got a pair laid down.
"We can talk while doing this you know." Alexi said and chose a card from her outstretched hand.
"As long as it is something interesting, I may reconsider. I do prefer the silence."
Alexi chuckled, "Most people—women, would never stop blabbering around me. And yet here you are, looking bored."
"I am not bored. But you make such uncomfortable conversations and I do not like it. Also, I am not like most people."
"That, I can see." Alexi frowned at his card and at the one from Em's deck. Ace of spades. He tucked it in together with his other five and reshuffled them. "And I hate to say that I find it challenging that you refuse to show off your best to get my attention. Because no matter what you do not do, I find myself truly interested."
"So this is simply to satisfy your ego?" She challenged him. Alexi was no gentleman who played around with words. He was a crown prince who said what he wanted with brutal honesty. So it was best to counter him with his own medicine. "Surely, I cannot be the first woman to turn down your affections."
"Well, there had been others who played uninterested. But they could never win. The moment I turn my attention to another lady they'd come flocking once more. So, it may not be about my ego. I do not think so. If it was, I could've long ago forced myself on you and had my way with your body—" he stopped and realized what he was just about to say. He stared at Em. She was looking grim. "Perhaps, we can continue without talking."
She scoffed but she knew they agreed to put the past behind them. At least now she was getting her much wanted silence.
***
Moments later, Em laid down her final pair of cards with a grin. She won.
"Oh its over already?" Alexi pouted and threw his remaining cards. "I guess I should taken you seriously."
"Don't be silly. There was no way you could've manipulated the game, we randy pulled them."
"If you put it that way..." he then began piling the cards again. "Have you thought of anything to ask me?"
Em had a hundred questions but she thought of something far from his personal life. She had no use of that as they would part way as soon she reached the city. "Can you tell me what Habsburg is like?"
Alexi lifted his brow, "You wish to know what my homeland looks like?"
"The Kingdom that is, I wish to know what its like there."
"Well, it's mainly a huge chunk of island. The ports are mostly rocky and we have very few nice beaches to swim on. There were fresh bodies of water inland that served as the source of drinking, bathing and for everything else." He bent down and riffled through the cards making sure he got all them facing down. "It is smaller than most kingdoms but it has its own beauty, I guess."
"It sounds like a wonderful place. And do you get as much tourist as the West?"
Alexi was quite, he looked like he was measuring his words before responding. "If you meant visitors from other kingdoms coming in for the season or some exclusive ball and whatnot, we do not have those. The locals keep to themselves and its mostly the merchants who would only dare venture that far. It is not forbidden to visit but let us just say, Habsburg is not a place people usually take a stroll."
"Is that why you believed I may be from Habsburg?"
"That is only one of the reasons." He said as he sat back, cards distributed evenly on both sides.
"And what are the other reasons? And do not say that you simply have taken interest on me."
"You may ask more if you win again."
"What?" Then she looked down. "How long do we have to do this?"
Alexi shrugged, "I'd love to talk about myself but since you refuse to tell me more about you then I shall withold some information as well."
"So now you're leaving me hanging for more." Em rolled her eyes. "Fine, I would simply win again."
"Try as you can, Em."
***
Not more than five minutes passed and Alexi had laid down his final pair of cards. Em still had a few on her end. He won.
"Well, well..."
She threw her cards down. "Ask away, Alexi. I shall begin the next round as soon as I give you the answer."
"I'd better think of a difficult question then." He said.
"You can try but I bet you that there is nothing more you probably did not know."
"Very well, remember the rules I gave you?"
"What rules?" She asked.
"That you may either ask a question or make me do something." His smile widened.
"Yes you said that. And I can tell that you are planning something wicked." She replied with a huff. So, he planned this all along. She should have just declined when the chance presented itself. But she can't be a sore loser and simply back out.
"It is not wicked at all. You might even enjoy it."
***
Em tried to shrug off the panic brewing inside and pretended to shuffle the cards again.
"Come here, Em."
"Whyever would I sit next to you?"
"Because I won and you are not a sore loser."
"I am comfortable enough where I sit." She said, trying to frustrate him and see how far he'd go with this stupid game.
Alexi's brow raised, "Are you afraid I would devour you?"
"Yes." She said flatly. "We agreed to put that drasted event in the library behind us. Why must you remind me at every turn?"
He sighed. "I swear I do not plan anything ill, Em. And you may scream should you feel the need. My driver shall hear you anytime."
"He could be working with you, for all I know. He is your driver afterall."
"Do not be difficult, Em."
"I am not! You are."
Silence ruled them. The carriage wheels suddenly seems too loud and the gravel beneath crushed with intensity. Em was hearing things after several hours they have been on the road. But her pulse thundered on her ears. She was mildly afraid, aggravated and was one moment away from jumping out of the carriage.
She had thought of it so she reached out for the door. Alexi was quick enough to flip the table away and caught her wrist. She pulled but he so did he. So she tried to use her other hand to push him away and with one swift move, Alexi did the very same thing. Em was thrown back on the farther side of her seat, on her back. Her skirts laid flat across the carriage seat and down the floor. She bared her teeth and stared at Alexi, "Let me go!"
He shook his head and took a seat on the edge while both hands pinned Emelia down. "You are mad for thinking you'd survive jumping out of the carriage."
"Oh, I could. I would do anything to get away from you."
"But why?" He asked innocently.
"Because..." why did she want to again? She stared at his amber eyes and noticed his pupils had gone large. He was intently watching her. Like a cat trying to catch a far off bird in a distance. Was Alexi trying to do that? Catch her? "B-because you..." she felt his hands pinning her down but they were never tight. She could brush him off but he was not being dangerous like he did on the library. It was as if she had gone mad and he was merely subduing her. Why did she react so impulsively? She knew that the carriage was going faster now and she could land face first if she tried to jump out whilst it was moving.
"Because what?"
Em's thoughts stopped. "I do not know, Alexi. I just felt that I needed to get away from you. I guess you just irritated me so much."
"And you thought jumping out of my carriage was the answer?"
"Well...it sounded better the first time I thought of it. But you just annoy me so much."
Alexi shrugged and let her go. He moved away from her but remained on the same seat. Em pulled herself up and righted her dress.
"You react as if I disgust you." He murmured.
"No! That is not...I meant, of course not. I literally said that you annoyed me."
"And you affect me so differently by doing so." He replied. His face looking out of the window. "You have bewitched me, Emelia."
"Whatever could you mean?" Surely she had done nothing but squirm away whenever he tried to get closer. But then, she had done the same thing with the twins. Had she been doing this the entire time? She tried to rack her brain and thought of the moments when Damian first gave her attention and how she craved for more but then after having a taste, she stared pawing him off. Of course there's the reason that he was getting married to someone else and she refused to be his mistress. But she did it again with his brother. Dathan showed her ecstasy beyond her imagination and when she had burned herself with his intense flame, she began to draw back. Saying she do not see him more than a friend. Was there something wrong with her?
"I am not a witch, Alexi. So I cannot fathom why do I affect you so." But she suddenly felt like a whore. Perhaps, she was.
Alexi chuckled softly, "You just are that, Em. You have an effect on men that drove me nuts. I do not understand it as well but your every existence wants me to have you all to myself."
"Are you saying that you are merely feeling lustful?" Did Damian and Dathan felt the same? Was it all just a call of bodily needs?
"No, I do not feel just lustful, Em." He turned his head and caught her gaze. "I feel utterly enslaved with wanting to own you."
"I'm afraid I do not comprehend."
"Neither do I. It maybe like one of those children's stories they tell you during bedtime..." he stretched his leg across the floor before continuing, "like the vampire Belle Morte."
"I have heard of her stories but that is nothing more but a story. Meant to scare off children to not wander off during the night."
"No, no. Not the vampire part where she drank blood from your neck. But that part where she could seduce men by just looking them. Or make them want her just by sniffing her scent or by touching her hair."
Em's brows creased. She, a Belle Morte? Ridiculous.
"I do not recall that part. But you must know, she was an extremely beautiful woman, so the perfect seduction is expected. Any man would lust after her." And she was far from it. Hell, her bosom could never compete with the myth. People say Belle had the most attractive round melons that bounced whenever she laughed. How could she be anything like her?
"Not literally but...in a sense you are affecting me without even trying. And it frustrates me so."
Em had no rebuttal on that. This man simply drove her mind to insanity. One moment they were conversing like sensible human beings and then the next thing she knew, they'd suddenly wrestle against each other before settling down on a weirded conversation.
***
Alexi moved back to his seat and pretended to sleep. Em fussed with a book but could not concentrate on the words. If what Alexi said was true, does she affect other men the same?
She and Damian had a history so he may not as this insanely affected. Dathan was a childhood friend but he pounced on her as if she was another woman. And Alexi was a stranger she had met quite recently. She had not flirted with them but they all reacted lust stricken.
Em dug deeper into her mind. Had she been kind in away they thought she was flirting with them? She could not recall an event. And there were other men in the manor and no one else reacted that way to her. So these three men may have just been caught up in the moment, she would not believe that she had the capability to seduce the opposite sex without even trying. It was impossible.
She looked outside and saw a silhouette in the distance. They might in the city in another day but should they push through, perhaps by nightfall they'd be in Westershire.
Would she like the city? How would the season be? Will there be men paying attention to her? Would they react the same way Alexi did?
Em found herself fretting over matters that ought not to be worried over. The longer she stayed in the carriage the longer her anxiety rose. It may have been a bad idea to leave the manor. What if she attracted a man in the city and he won't be as gentle as the others? What if she encounter another Mr. Stanley?
Her thoughts paused. That's right. There was another man who reacted oddly to her. She met the man hours prior to settling in at Spendell's and he had trapped her almost helpless. He looked desperate and... she found that there was no word for what Mr. Stanley looked like that day.
Was she indeed, a seductress?